Right-leaning propaganda

Reviewing Erwin W. Lutzers We Will Not Be Silences: Responding Courageously to Our Culture's Assault on Christianity by J. Tayler Smith

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What about left-leaning Christians?

I am Christian. I confess Jesus Christ is my Lord and Saviour as per Romans 10:9. I was raised in the Charismatic Renewal movement, and I largely maintain the doctrines and beliefs with which I was raised. Politically, I lean toward the progressive left side of the spectrum (in the North American context), which is a shift from my right-leaning conservative roots and family. These two parts of my life place me in an unusual position within North American culture. When I attend Christian gatherings, speakers, leaders, and my peers, assume and address me as though I agree with a right-leaning political ideology. When one learns that I do not hold the same perspective, they become defensive and aloof. (Ironically, those who are not Christians tend to do the opposite and become more intrigued when they discover I am a Christian. I have come to reject the notion that any faith, let alone Christianty, can only be expressed through one political ideology. There are certainly some firm truths written in the Christian scriptures from which Christians are not to depart; however, few of these (if any) are expressed in policy statements made by political parties. Faith is greater than political ideology and most ideologies are workable within the framework of Christianity - if allowed.

However, Dr. Erwn W. Lutzer, pastor emeritus of The Moody Church, seems to disagree with my viewpoint. After reading his book, We Will Not Be Silenced: Responding Courageously to Our Culture’s Assault on Christianity, I understand Lutzer to believe there is no chance that any left leaning person could actually be an authentic Christian. According to Lutzer, any leftist person, including myself, is actively trying to destroy the United States with a dangerous Marxist worldview that promotes wanton sin; therefore, how could any leftists be a Christian? Considering the fact that Christianity exists well beyond the United States (I am Canadian), and that the faith is the basis for several prominent right and left leaning political ideas, it is absolutely false to suggest that it is impossible for a person to hold both Christian and leftist values and to believe that all leftists have a dark agenda at their core. Nevertheless, there are numerous people (some I know personally) who agree with Lutzer and are completely fearful of the left. I found Lutzer’s book was largely a vehicle that promotes fear of the political left in right-leaning Christians, and encourages them to view those who lean left as enemies of the Gospel rather than co-builders of the same nation in which they live. What Lutzer writes is an argument that feels meant to provoke believing Christians into actively taking an antagonistic stance against anyone that disagrees with their political views, regardless whether that person is a practising Christian themselves.

The Leftists are destroying the United States

“The secular left does not believe that America can be fixed; they say it must be destroyed.” This is the opening sentence to Lutzer’s first chapter, and it carries the tone and message the reader finds throughout the rest of the book. Lutzer’s main argument is that the secular leftists, who he frequently defines as ‘the Marxists’, are trying to promote social change that undermines Christianity in the United States and threatens to destroy the country. Lutzer’s desire is to see the church withstand what he believes is a direct assault against the Christian faith and to act as a line of defence for God against this evil.

Lutzer organises his book into eight main claims:

1. The leftists are vilifying the history of Christianity and the United States so they can pivote the population away from supporting these ideals.

2. The leftists are promoting diversity as a tool that keeps the country divided rather than united.

3. The leftists only encourage freedom of speech for those who support their causes and deny it to Christians.

4. The leftists are using propaganda to take control of the media and to influence the country’s population.

5. The leftists are pushing forward the LGBTQA+ agenda by sexulaizing children.

6. Socialism is inherently evil and capitalism is a naturally better economic framework.

7. The leftists are supporting radical islam to subvert Christianity.

8. The leftists refuse to engage in meaningful conversation and instead denounce those who disagree with them.

These claims are quite bold, and each one is elaborated upon in about ninety percent of each chapter.

However, Lutzer states that the purpose of his book is not to address these issues. Instead he says, “I write not so much as to reclaim the culture as to reclaim the church.” To this end, a remaining portion of each chapter is dedicated to a discussion of what the church ought to do regarding these eight statements:

1. Regarding the vilification of the church and the country, the church ought to repent for its poor actions and move forward.

2. Regarding the use of unity to divide, the church should practice true reconciliation with all peoples.

3. Regarding the prohibition of free speech for Christians, the church should continue to boldly preach the gospel.

4. Regarding the use of propaganda, the church should become better at identifying deception and promoting truth.

5. Regarding the LGBTQA+ agenda and sexualization of children, the church should welcome peoples of all backgrounds and then assist them in moving out of a sinful lifestyle.

6. Regarding the evils of socialism and the merits of capitalism, the church should be more generous.

7. Regarding radical Islam, the church should witness to Muslims and should also prepare itself for martyrdom, if it comes to that.

8. Regarding the left’s refusal to engage in meaningful dialogue, the church should be resolute and practice wisdom in what it believes, yet willing to accept persecution.

Lutzer then summarises his book by emphasising the need for the church to ensure it is purged of all the sinful ideas that are present in the leftist culture of the United States.

We Will Not Be Silenced APPRAISED

My APPRAISED method of evaluation is a subjective look at the book from nine specific considerations. I have written about my method more extensively in my prior book reviews.

Accuracy

Perhaps the biggest fallacy of this book is its failure to portray the left, or even the United States, in an accurate light. Lutzer does not understand the place in the world in which both the United States and Christianity sit. Early on, he makes the statement that, “[T]he United States has achieved the greatest civilization in history and is the envy of the world.” This is utter nonsense for a book written in 2020, especially considering that the United States ranks as number seventeen on the United Nations Human Development Index. Furthermore, the country consistently features extremely high incarceration and gun violence rates, and is frequently plagued by political and racial turmoil that is simply not present in several other comparable nations.

Aside from Lutzer’s grandiose and prideful view of the United States, he also fails to consider that any goodness could come out of the political left. To him, it is only the policies of the right that align with the Christian scriptures and gospel. I argue that believing God’s Word is best applied to a nation through the policies of the political right is the same as believing that only the concepts promoted by this right leaning political party are the policies that are best applied to all people groups on earth - this is such a small view of God and his scriptures. God is more than the God of the United States. Lutzer’s descriptions of the political left are just plain deception, especially seeing how the fundamental roots of both left and right leaning political ideas can find basis in strong Christian thinkers and theologians. For these reasons, I cannot say that Lutzer’s book is accurate.

Praiseworthiness

I cannot suggest in good faith that others go out of their way to read this book - with one exception: if the reader intends to understand the thinking of the radical Christian right in the United States. Aside from this specific circumstance, I recommend that others actively avoid reading this material. Lutzer does not accurately describe how the left thinks and operates, and his writing supports a number of conspiracy-like ideas that are further meant to demonise those with whom he disagrees. Additionally, it is clear that Lutzer’s intended audience is limited to the United States - he does not consider the context of Christianity across the rest of the globe and how a significant portion of the global Christian community disagrees with his ideas.

Proficiency

It is evident in several places that not enough thought or research was put into some of Lutzer’s key ideas. One example comes toward the end of his book where he describes how protests are allowed under the Constitution. He cites an example of a protest in Toronto, a city that is not under the jurisdiction of the Constitution. To be fair, the citizens of this city do have the same right under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but this is a bad example to use in demonstrating the freedoms under the Constitution of the United States.

Reverence

Lutzer does not honour, respect, or give reverence to the majority of people he talks about in his book. He does have a clear reverence for God and Christians who agree with his viewpoint, but he villainizes any group he perceives as opposing the Christian cause. This includes, but is not limited to: political left-leaners, socialists, marxists, many members of the feminist movement, many members of the LGBTQA+ community, and many Muslims. This sort of condemnation is uncalled for, especially since almost all of these communities contain Lutzer’s own brothers and sisters in Christ who confess Jesus as Lord (with the exception of Muslims who would no longer be Muslims if they became Christians). Lutzer’s fear of these groups fundamentally undermines the Christian mission to reach all peoples as God’s lost children. He forgets that Christians are not to fight against flesh and blood - people are never the enemy.

Artistry

Lutzer’s writing and style are average at best, but not anything special. He tries to utilise a shock-value technique at times, but this comes across as a fear tactic more than as an artistic choice.

Integrity

I can give Lutzer some credit for writing a book with integrity. I do not think Lutzer intends to promote fear or to villainize; I think he genuinely wants to save Christianity in the United States. He clearly means every word he says, whether the reader agrees with him or not is entirely another matter, and his clear aim is to encourage Christians to genuinely live out their faith without giving in to the ideologies that oppose their faith. I support this general concept, but I disagree with Lutzer’s assessment of the culture. In reference to his original eight points I mentioned earlier, I can say that I wholeheartedly disagree with all eight statements; however, I can generally support Lutzer’s eight actions he believes the church ought to take to address the current issues of the day.

Superbness

I cannot suggest that this book is impressive, perfect, or superb in any sense. One reason for my criticism is that there are too many instances where Lutzer’s arguments are equally valid against the cause he is fighting for - while attempting to refute the secular left he provides the logic needed to argue against right-leaning Christianity. For example, concerning the ‘dangerous master plan’ of radical Islam, Lutzer states,

“[The] agenda was to impose Islamic law throughout the world to liberate humanity and bring about purification and redemption. [Their] view of social justice found common ground with that of the radical left, and this is one reason the latter are anxious to please the Islamists and support rights for Muslims that it denies to Christians.”

Ironically, one could replace all the Islamic references with Christian ones - doing so paints Christianity as having the same ‘dangerous’ plan.

The agenda was to impose Christian law throughout the world to liberate humanity and bring about purification and redemption. His view of social justice found common ground with that of the radical right, and this is one reason the latter are anxious to please the Christians and support rights for Christianity that it denies to Islam.

This is a logical failure on Lutzer’s part. Continually, throughout the book, his descriptions of the ‘atrocities’ of the left are often the same actions taken by the right.

Enjoyability

It may be obvious, but I did not personally enjoy reading this book. However, I am glad I did so. It was important for me to better understand how this particular faction of American Christianity views the state of the world. Even so, I often put off reading each chapter simply because I knew it would anger and depress me to know that one of my own brothers in Christ would characterise me in such a negative light. Nevertheless, I pushed on because I truly think it is important to engage with ideas with which one disagrees.

Decency

The only other positive credit I can give Lutzer concerning his book is that it is decent in that it does not promote any needless sensuality or violence. This is not really that kind of book, and I do not think anyone would expect to find such material in it. On a more positive note, I did appreciate that Lutzer recognizes that there are occasionally problems with his view as well. The best example comes from his chapter against socialism, in which he states,

“Yes, too often capitalism exploits the poor and appeals to the greed of the human heart. But we must do all we can to make money with the intention of giving it away, using it so that there will be people who will meet us in “the eternal dwellings.”

I can get behind this, it is a decent way to handle one’s finances.

I really didn’t enjoy it

Lutzer’s book paints a villainous caricature of what he considers the radical left and its agenda. Ironically, for a book that takes considerable time to warn against the left’s use of propaganda, Lutzer’s book itself is propaganda in support of the radical right. He does not portray the left in a fair light, he does not address the motivations and logic behind the left’s ideas, and he spends a considerable amount of time fear-mongering (intentionally or not) so that his readers feel they have no choice but to reject all other ideas. I admit that the book promotes the concepts of integrity and decency, but I found nothing else of value in it. I only give it two out of my nine stars.

References

Lutzer, Erwin W. 2020. We Will Not Be Silenced: Responding Courageously to Our Culture's Assault on Christianity. Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers.